.. well , the House oversight Cmte blasted loose 20k pages of e – mails from the ObamaCrap Administration . Is anyone surprised at what was revealed ?? …

.. No , I am not …

.. Professor Gruber was involved in the planning , design , and execution of ObamaCrapCare . Boy , was he ever . he was involved up to his eyeballs , and then some . There is no way around it . He cannot deny it …

.. the debate over the ObamaCrapCare bill was heated . The final vote in the House was close . Promises were made to pro – life DemoCraps [many of them Blue Dog Dems] to vote for the final bill . …. Well …

.. the abortion ” coverage ” in ObamaCrapCare was supposed to be accounted for and billed for , separately . It has not been . The GAO has performed a thorough investigation , and has written a comprehensive report on the subject . HHS has not held the states , the exchanges , and the insurers to account ….

.. a number of ObamaCrapCare state exchanges have crashed and burned . Among them are Oregon [$330 million] , Maryland [$150 million] , and Massachusetts[$225 million] . Well , now those idiots [at the state level] have more company ..

.. Hawaii only enrolled a little over 8,700 people in its exchange . How much $$ did it blow ?? $220 million of taxpayer money , that is what . Does the ObamaCrap Administration give a damn ? Not one damn bit …

.. somehow , someway , history needs to hold these morons to account for their actions . Someday , I believe that they will be . The taxpayers cannot just continue to write checks with their hard earned money that the various governments keep cashing ..

.. this idiocy must stop . The idiocy behind the policy must be stopped …

.. a pending trend : many of the folks are subsidized [around 85%] . Ouch ! …. Another : the folks that are being covered under OCC are generally older and sicker . That figures . Hate to tell you I told you so , but , I told you so , folks …

.. so will the news on OCC get any better ? Not likely . The regulators may want to keep a lid on price increases , but it will not work . Especially in the more conservative states . They do not want OCC to work , and they want their own people to be covered , but they also want them to learn a lesson . You cannot ignore the Laws of Supply and Demand , dummies !! …

.. there is a real point to the conservative case for health insurance reform ..

.. ownership . That people have a real ownership stake in their health insurance ..

.. “I just want to mention that Donald Trump does say that his plan for healthcare reform would be the ability to have your insurance be portable, to buy it across state lines like you would buy car insurance, for example,” Conway said.

.. Trump also proposes having health savings accounts “so that you own that piece of your healthcare and you can manage it the way you would anything else,” she said.

.. this time , it is about a little thing called ” health insurance cooperatives . ”

.. there were 23 of them launched around the United States . They were brought into being with about $2.5 billion in taxpayer money . One would think that , after nearly 3 years , these co – ops would have had a chance to become going concerns . They have not ..

.. 8 of them are dead or dying . 13 more of them are headed in that direction . That accounts for all but 2 of them . I would expect the other 2 coops to follow suit , as well …

.. What gives ? ..

.. the dummies in the government [the ObamaCraps in the government , and the loonie lefties in Congress] have never made a payroll , made a product , or have produced a service . They do not know what it means to be in business , much less run one . Yet these dumbbells designed these damn coops ..

.. the enrollees in the co-ops , as many predicted , were far older and sicker than the folks expected . As a result , the premiums charged for the health insurance were far , far too low . Also , the restrictions imposed by OCC did not allow these coops to charges fees and premiums that were suffiecient enough to meet costs . So , what happens ?? ..

.. an excellent column by Kim Strassel [WSJ] points out that the career staff at the IRS initially followed the law , to the letter . That meant that it would be subsidies in state – based exchanges ONLY . The situation changes when it was kicked up for political backing to the highest levels of the Service …

.. at that level , the chief counsel [a political appointee] and the Commissioner [ditto] had a very serious problem . Most likely , they got heavy duty heat from the ObamaCraps at the White House . Guess What Happened ?? ..

.. the ruling changed . by July of 2011 , the ruling came out in its final form , having it as subsidies for ALL … a couple of weeks later , Professor Jonathan Alter of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland , Ohio and Micheal Cannon of the Cato Institute came out with their famous paper … [– note — it is available from the Social Science Research Network , and there is a link , [here]]

.. the X-Mas season is going to make for some interesting reading , in terms of IRSgate . Once these hush puppies are fully put out , you might be surprised at what is found in them ..

.. Oh , also … it is said that there will be no ” red meat ” vis-à-vis the ObamaCrap White House . Do Not Be so sure about that ..

.. these people have been that arrogant and that incredibly stupid about things , they have been leaving a paper trail about their screw – ups all over the place . Just look at GruberGate , for God ‘ s Sake . Professor Gruber ‘ s videos were just sitting out there on YouTube . It took an intrepid individual investment adviser from suburban Philly who got really , really pissed at the O.C. …

.. so what did he do ? He started digging and researching . It took quite a lot of it , though , but Wow ! He hit the Comstock Lode of political gigagaffes . Now , it has done grave damage to Jonathan Gruber ‘ s reputation , and also to that of the ObamaCraps ‘ political reputation . Journalists of all stripes are

.. the ObamaCrapCare E.B.P. that he wanted to get [that he could afford] cost twice as much as he paid before …

.. twice …

.. Weinstein is a small businessman , and presumably may well employ one or two people . He is responsible for his own health coverage , plus that of anyone he may well employ . Especially if he is a sole proprietor …

.. even more so are the deductibles under the ObamaCrapCare plans [Platinum,Gold,Silver, and Bronze]… the co – pays are not bad , but the deductibles [before coverage kicks in] are a real killer , financially , for most anyone …

.. well , as of this week , the Green Mountain state has effectively junked the single – payer plan that it wanted to implement . Why ? …

.. simple . they wanted the moon and the stars included in their single – payer plan . It was even more ridiculously expensive than the Cadillac – style ObamaCrapCare plan that would normally be used in a state . Well , the ” moon and the stars ” plan that they wanted cost waaaaay too damn much …

.. Sarah Kliff is an excellent writer for an otherwise – dull – as – dishwater liberal website [Vox.com] . Her column gives most of the ” inside skinny ” on what happened and why it happened . The part , though , she leaves out is that Governor [Peter] Shumlin is trying to save his own political skin . He finished 1st , with just less than 48.0% of the vote in the 2014 general election . He should have won big , and going away . He did not …

.. So , what happened ? …

.. What happened was underfunded , unknown businessman Scott Milne nearly got Peter Shumlin ‘ s scalp . Vermont ‘ s voters got a preview of the future , and they were none – too – thrilled with it . Milne finished just behind Shumlin , with about 47.4% of the vote . Now , Vermont ‘ s legislature makes the choice . Normally , it is a piece of cake for Shumlin . Don’t be so sure , this time …

.. Vermont ‘ s legislature still has to figure out what to do . If they want , they can try to jam a less – expensive version of single payer by Shumlin or Milne . then they will have to pay the political piper in 2 years when they are all on the ballot . This time , Milne will not be an unknown . He will also be better funded . What would the R.G.A. give to be a royal P.I.T.A to the Dems in Vermont ?

.. A nice chunk of change , I will bet ….

.. well , the dummies down in Fantasyland on the Potomac want to try to do the same thing . Implement a ” Moon and the Stars ” single – payer plan , no matter what the cost …. Well , guess what , dummies ?!?! …

.. it would cost waaaaay too damn much , same as in Vermont . Stoopid …

.. now , they have to pay for the impact of ObamaCrapCare . More specically , the student body has to pay for their impact on ObamaCrapCare , via tuition , fees , room , and board . Well , the faculty is not happy , to say the least …

.. the faculty dons and donnettes get almost 95% of their ObamaCrapCare bill paid . So , they have to pay little out-of-pocket . But , just wait until the co – pays and deductibles hit . Those (especially the deductibles) are a doozy …

.. and they are complaining . Boy , are they complaining . Loud and clear . Waaaaah !! ….

.. recently , MIT prof Jonathan Gruber was hauled before the House of Representatives . More specifically , he testified before the House Oversight Committee . WEll , he did not exactly enjoy the experience , to say the least ….

.. Professor Gruber was , to be specific , roast on a collective spit . He was roasted more like one does to a pig when one roasts pork in preparation for cooking ribs . With the apple in the mouth . Even the DemoCraps ed in the roasting , for once , but for their own reasons . They were pissy because the ruckus gave the GOP a golden opportunity to cook ObamaCrapCare on a Spit …

.. you really have to admit , Sen. Rubio really did his homework on this ..

.. he slipped in this provision into the federal budget [yes , two years ago] that makes any spending by the Feds on the so – called risk corridors ” budget – neutral . I am really surprised that the ObamaCraps let this thing get thru in the first place . Amazed would be a better guess . Another would be the height of arrogance and narcissism , that would make them overlook this …

.. huh ?!?! ..

.. in plain English , the ” risk corridors ” are designed to protect the insurance companies [and the co – ops] from the fallout from excessive #s of claims during the early years of OCC . Making this budget – neutral means that the Obamacraps cannot do a backdoor bailout of the companies , using federal funds ..

.. many of the health insurance co – ops have collapsed . Most of the others are on the brink of collapse . Also , insurance companies [large and small] are beginning to pull out of the state OCC cooperatives . This is really putting the states [and their creations] in a financial bind . Also , it could and will get much worse ..

.. the Employer Mandate in ObamaCrapCare is now effective . Good Luck with employer – provided health insurance . Especially now . The effectiveness of the employer mandate brings with it the rest of ObamaCrapCare , including the Essential Benefits package . The E.B. package is , in effect , a Cadillac plan , one that gets taxes . Ouch ! …

.. even more is a surprise for primary care docs : cuts in Medicad reimbursements . Yes , that . They get screwed with a bait-and-switch on Medicaid reimbursement . Worse yet , they have no legal recourse to find a way to challenge it . Yikes …

.. Even more , people are really beginning to understand the financial impact of ObamaCrapCare . Paying the premiums is bad enough . They also have to pay the deductible cost , out – of – pocket , and the co – pays , as well . Double yikes !! …

.. then , there is the expansion of the individual mandate …. that is , presuming , a 6 to 3 majority does not rip the [bleep] out of the heart of it in June when King v Burwell is decided by the US Supreme Court ….

.. if that happens , then POTUS is going to have to come to Congresss in order to get a ObamaCrapCare repair bill passed . as a result , Congress will have a strong bargaining position in order to get substantial changes to the whole damn mess if His Lordship wants to get a bill passed …

.. oh , I bet the ObamaCraps in the White House have to be groaning at the outcropping of this ..

.. this guy , along with former Sens. Ben Nelson [now the head of the Natl Association of Insurance Commissioners] and Max Baucus [the US Ambassador to China] helped design and write the principal ObamaCrapCare bill . It is the one that originated in the Senate . They know the bill . Baucus was the principal author . This other guy was the co – author . Ben Nelson was one of the last votes to come on board , and why , among other things : …

.. there is no ” public option … ” , and

.. the tax credits are offered through exchanges established and controlled by states …

.. It is also why the ObamaCrapCare bill has the Constitutional ” origination ” problem … All bills for the raising of ” revenue ” [taxation , as well as spending] are supposed to originate in the House of Representatives . This one did not . Whoops …..

.. you can thank the dumb – dumbs on Crapitol Hil for this one . No , not the Republicans . Remember , not one GOP rep or Senator voted for ObamaCrapCare . This drafting blooper was a DemoCrap creation . And those dummies meant it , to entice the ” states ” to create their health insurance exchanges . They wanted them to , and were going to penalize them if the did not . However , the Supremes got in the way …

Remember the Halbig case? If not, catch up right now by re-reading this post from January, written after a D.C. district court judge ruled in Obama’s favor. O-Care is a famously complex law but the lawsuit that could end up demolishing it is surprisingly simple.

In a nutshell, there’s a line buried deep in the statutory text that says federal subsidies for insurance premiums will be available to anyone who buys a plan on “an Exchange established by the State.” Question: Does Healthcare.gov, the exchange built by the federal government after 34 states refused to build their own exchanges, qualify as an “Exchange established by the State”? Or do only state exchanges qualify ?

If it’s the latter, then millions upon millions of people who’ve signed up for O-Care through Healthcare.gov since October in the expectation that Uncle Sam will be paying part of their bill are in for a nasty surprise. The only fix that’s available (unless His Majesty tries some executive gambit, of course) is for Congress to amend the statute so that subsidies are available on the federal exchange too, but what are the odds of the House GOP agreeing to that? If the D.C. Circuit, which is set to rule any day now on the appeal of the earlier ruling, sides with the challengers against O, consumers will be forced to either come up with the money for their premiums themselves or drop their coverage. And if most of them choose to drop coverage, leading to a mass exodus of healthy people from various insurance risk pools, suddenly the White House is facing a death-spiral problem where hiking premiums on the remaining enrollees is the only way to pay for all the sick people still in the pool. That’ll lead to more dropped coverage, which means even higher premiums, and then it’s spiralmania.

It’s a magic bullet, aimed right at the heart of ObamaCare. What will the D.C. Circuit do? TPM wonders:

The challenge was initially written off by some as a fool’s errand because there’s a lack of evidence that the Democrats who crafted and passed the Affordable Care Act intended to block subsidies on the federal exchange, which was designed as a backstop on behalf of the states. (They’ve signed a brief saying as much.) But the challengers seized on an ambiguity in the language of the statute which says the subsidies are to be provided by “an Exchange established by the State.”

“If the legislation is just stupid, I don’t see that it’s up to the court to save it,” Judge A. Raymond Randolph said during oral arguments in March.

Randolph, a George H.W. Bush appointee, said the text of the statute “seems perfectly clear on its face” that the subsidies are confined to state-run exchanges. Carter-appointed Judge Harry T. Edwards slammed the challengers’ claims as “preposterous.” So the deciding vote appears to be with George W. Bush-appointed Judge Thomas B. Griffith, who wasn’t resolute but sounded unconvinced of the Obama administration’s defense, saying it had a “special burden” to show that the language “doesn’t mean what it appears to mean.”

In a way, this is an analog to Obama’s power grab on immigration, which he defends as necessary because Congress is paralyzed. Will the D.C. Circuit read the statute as it’s written and leave it to Congress to resolve the ambiguity over “state” exchanges or, knowing that Congress won’t do a thing to resolve it, will the court feel obliged to minimize disruption to America’s new insurance regime by interpreting the word “state” broadly? The lower court reasoned that the federal ObamaCare exchange isn’t really a “federal” exchange, it’s an amalgamation of 34 different state exchanges that the federal government established on behalf of each of those 34 states. In that sense, the federal exchange is a “state” exchange (or a group of state exchanges) and therefore its customers are eligible for subsidies.

Law prof Jonathan Adler has led the charge in arguing the opposite, that the whole reason the statute was drafted the way it was is because Congress wanted to give states an extra incentive — namely, subsidies for its residents — to set up their own individual insurance exchanges. If a state refused to comply and forced the feds to set up an exchange on its behalf instead, its residents would be punished by having their eligibility for subsidies removed. (Adler wrote a thorough reply to the district court’s ruling for WaPo back in March.) The D.C. Circuit needs to choose between those two interpretations. And depending upon how they rule, SCOTUS may get a crack at it — which, per Jonathan Turley, is potentially also bad news for O-Care fans:

But the D.C. Circuit Court may see things quite differently, especially in light of recent Supreme Court opinions holding that the Obama administration has exceeded its authority and violated separation of powers.

In Michigan vs. Bay Mills Indian Community, for example, Justice Elena Kagan noted that “this court does not revise legislation … just because the text as written creates an apparent anomaly as to some subject it does not address.” In Utility Air Regulatory Group vs. EPA, Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority, stressed that “an agency has no power to tailor legislation to bureaucratic policy goals by rewriting unambiguous statutory terms.” And a third strike came last week in National Labor Relations Board vs. Canning, when the Supreme Court unanimously found that President Obama had violated the Constitution in circumventing Congress through his use of recess appointments…

Moreover, a ruling against the administration would mean that Obama has been responsible for ordering what could amount to billions of dollars to be paid from the federal Treasury without authority. And it would mean the administration has committed yet another violation of the separation of powers.

It’s impossible for me to believe that the Supremes generally and John Roberts specifically, having eaten boatloads of crap from the right for upholding ObamaCare on the challenge to the individual mandate, are now going to pull a “never mind” and torch the whole thing because of a drafting ambiguity, but hope springs eternal for separation-of-powers aficionados like Turley. So much for the legal angle to all this.

Here’s the political angle: What happens if the D.C. Circuit does nuke the subsidies eligibility for federal-exchange consumers? Would the House GOP even consider a bill reinstating those subsidies in exchange for other concessions of some kind? Before you say “hell no,” bear in mind that there’ll be a lot of voters out there PO’d that they’ve just lost their sugar from Uncle Sam and a lot of Democrats whispering to them that they could have that sugar back if only the damned Republicans didn’t want to see them suffer. Plenty of hay could be made before the midterms. Phil Klein, who has more faith in Boehner and crew than me, thinks there’s no way House Republicans would dare cave on subsidies, certainly not before SCOTUS has ruled on this at least. Hopefully he’s right — emphasis on “hopefully.” But maybe it’s all moot: If the GOP held out and refused to reinstate the subsidies, His Majesty would be tempted to issue some sort of dubious executive order (say, right around November 1st) proclaiming that the subsidies will be reinstated under HHS’s authority. That might be illegal, but even if it is, what’s anyone going to do to stop him? And even if there is a way to stop him by suing him over it, how will that stop him in time to prevent him from reaping the benefits at the polls on election day? Gulp.

LEC here again — I am figuring on a 2 to 1 decision that overturns the trial court . Given the editing blooper , and the clear intent of Congress originally in drafting the thing , it is not up to the courts to rewrite it , and it is not up to H.H.S. and the Infernal Revenue Service to ” screw around ” with it .

.. the questions after that :

[-] what do the courts do — the newer and more liberal majority may want to get their hands on this one . But the Supremes may decide to intervene , once the Government appeals , and take it away from them . That would force the appeal up to the US Supreme Court , and they would not overturn that ruling …

[-] House GOP — it may well give them leverage . But His Lordship has shown no inkling towards compromise . He never does . Remember , OCC is THAT unpopular , I will bet that the House GOP will do nothing , pending an appeal to the Supreme Court ..

[-] You – Know – Who — He is stupid , but is he that stupid to try a ” power play ” on the subsidies before the elections . If he did (or does) , he will definitely face impeachment proceedings after the elections . Congress then may well have had enough …

.. it is not so much the amount . Those will be bad enough [above 10% is the rough estimate] . It is the timing that is the problem …

.. they do not want to before November ‘ s election . It figures ….

.. if Governor Empty Suit had a brain , get the news out the door . Do not screw around with the news . A coverup is far worse than that , and even Minnesota is a blue state , it is more “light ” blue …

.. if things are bad , and this blows up , it could spew political damage and death all over the place for the DemoCraps …. especially Governor Mark Dayton and US Senator Al Franken . Franken won by a margin of fraud [about 5,000 fraudulent votes] , and is hardly in good enough shape to win by sitting on his butt . Ditto Dayton ….

… If either one or both go down , it could be worse for the Dems in the legislature …

.. that is those now – infamous ” 834 reports , folks . That information that a customer inputs is supposed to be verified before it is accepted for final enrollment . A boo – boo once in a while , o.k. ?? But , more than 1 error in 3 ? Totally Unacceptable . Completely . The system is supposed to match up the inputted info with other info from other databases , folks . Obviously , it is not working up to snuff ..

.. I would not want to be people next spring , when it comes time for tax season . The Infernal Revenue Service is going to recalculate the amount of subsidy that it thinks that a taxpayer should be receiving . If they received more , then they are going to be liable for the difference . Which will make a colossal mess of everyone ‘ s tax returns …

.. Those numb – nuts with ObamaCrapCare exchanges have a problem … how to pay for their exchanges …

.. the start – up grants that the Feds gave those states are just about gone .. so what happens now ?? …

.. more funds need to come from somewhere — and that is the problem .

.. most , if not all , of these states are Blue states , and , with rare exceptions , their state finances are in the dumper , very badly . They have to find a way to cope , but someone gets stuck with the bill . Guess who ?? ….

.. Grigg is a retired woman who moved to Durant , Ok in order to take care of her elderly mother . She is also a cancer survivor . Being in a new surrounding , she was likely following her previous doctor ‘ s and hospital ‘ s reccommendations on finding cancer specialists and hospitals within her local area …

.. She has to go through the rigamarole in dealing with the local ObamaCrapCare excahnges , while looking for doctors and specialists that will take her plan . Unfortnuately , the Blue Cross / Blue Shield plan that she selected gave her very wrong info . So did the ObamaCrapCare exchange …

.. Boy , did Janet get screwed over by the system …

.. she is out several thousand dollars in premiums , now that she has had to change plans to get into a plan that is decently convenient to her . Also , the out – of – pocket expenses from doctors visits and travel of running all over the place , plus all of the aggravation ….

.. employers have the choice . Either pay the ObamaCrapCare penalty [$2,000 per worker] , or , provide ObamaCrapCare – mandate health insurance plans to every full time employee . People can do the math . So can the I.R.S. . So , the I.R.S. has acted , with one of those stunts of ” controlling legal authority ” that the ObamaCraps think that they have . Well , they are very , very wrong .

.. well , the I.R.S. seems to think that it has the power to stop employers from ” dumping ” employees into the ObamaCrapCare exchanges . They are prohibiting the practice , because they want companies to continue to provide overpriced , unnecessary , and unneeded health insurance coverage . In addition , they are imposing a $100 per day tax penalty if a company does do so . By what controlling legal authority do those idiots thaink that they can do this …

.. Government Agencies have what is known as ” Chevron deference ” in administering a law . Basically , it allows them a large amount of latitude in implementing the law . The agency has latitude , but not absolute authority . They can use explicit or implicit authority to implement a law . But , they must still follow the explicit statutory intent of Congress .

.. I do not think that the Infernal Revenue Service has this authority . They may think that they do , and the ObamaCraps may be ordering them to do this . However , they have to have legal authority to do it . And , that is something that they do not have . They do not have the explicit authority , nor do they have the implicit authority to do it . Also , Chevron deference can allow it if the meaning (explicit or implicit) of the law allows . That is something that they do not have , either . So . no soap …

.. A company will challenge it , I can guarantee you that . Especially with the difference between the penalty and the cost of insurance . They can do the math …

.. it is not that the Federal Exchange is going great guns . It is , however , that the state exchanges have been a very disastrous lot . Some have worked , but most have not …

.. this time , it is Hawaii that is about to bite the dust . The folks at the Hawaii Health Connector have had all sorts of trouble with the exchange website from the beginning . Even by Hawaii standards , which can be really ridiculous , this exchange is circling the drain , ready to go down the good ol ‘ flusheroo …

.. Oregon and its mess is the topper of them all . CoverOregon blew through nearly $330 million , and the number of actual people that were enrolled in ObamaCrapCare online in Oregon — 0 . You got that right , Zippo . Zero , Zilch . the Big Zipparoni …